Theory is important in guiding research to penetrate the bewildering surface of myriad age, sex, time and population-specific statistics about mortality at older ages. The goal of the proposed research is to advance theory and thereby empirical knowledge of mortality comparisons by using data from the """"""""natural experiment"""""""" of East-West German unification and the resulting rapid convergence of E. German death rates to W. German levels to quantify the relative causal importance of two factors suggested by theory: """"""""prosperity"""""""" vs. """"""""healthcare"""""""".
Why do older people in Japan and France live longer than older people in the U.S. and Denmark? Why do older women live longer than older men? Is aging faster or more detrimental in the U.S. and for men? Or is the poor performance of the U.S. and of men due to deaths that are not related to the process of aging? The proposed research on these questions is of fundamental importance to scientific understanding and to public-health policy.
